Calabria- any advice?
 

I may be visiting the southeast coast of this region in September after a few days in Rome. We will be staying with family, and am wondering if anyone has first hand knowledge of the area? I of course will consult guidebooks, but am hoping for additional insight into any don't miss sites, towns, beaches, etc. We will have a rental car. Thanks!

I should add that the town I will be based in is Marina di Gioiosa Ionica. Not that I am actually hoping someone's been to this exact town, but so that the region I will be in is clear.

I've never been there, but I will be interested in your experience. Will you be anywhere near Cirò? (Part of my ancestry is from there.)

Ciro looks to be about a good 100 miles from where I will be, I wwouldn't anticipate going that far north when I go. But I will definitely post my thoughts on this trip, as it is also an exploration of my ancestry.

ttt

Not one person's been to Calabria???

I've been to Calabria but only on the southwestern coast, so I don't have the first hand knowledge of the area around Marina di Gioiosa that you requested. If you get a chance, it's not a long drive to the beaches of Tropea and Pizzo which are very nice and uncrowded. Pizzo has a great gelateria but I can't recall the name off hand.

Hey AP6380,

Click my screen name and you can pick up all the comments I've made about Calabria - and I've just started!

And I'll make a prediction now...you will LOVE it - think of Southern California, but with clean air, very little traffic and industrialization, and the best food in all of Italy, IMHO. Oh, and no Disneyland - just mountains, ocean, olives and Mafia - wait, wait NOT Mafia!

Really, just kidding...Mafia.

!!!

This trip report about Calabria was just posted on SlowTrav. It might be helpful to you:
http://www.slowtalk.com/6/ubb.x?a=tp...p;m=7776064304

I have no immediate plans to go, but I know I will go there some day. So I'll "top" this now and then in the hopes that you'll get some interesting responses.

You might be interested in a new book I just read "Stolen Figs, and Other Adventures in Calabria" by Mark Rotella. I only recommend it because of your interest in the region - unfortunately I don't count it among the best of its genre. But definitely worth a borrow from the library if you want to get a taste of different towns and cities, and some history, of Calabria.